Roscoe Recertifies for ISO 9001:2015 with Internal Audit

Roscoe has taken the first major step in recertifying for ISO 9001:2015 from ISO 9001:2008 by successfully conducting an internal audit.

Roscoe has been ISO 9001 certified since 2003 and is one of the few independent work uniform rental companies to have such a long commitment to quality and continuous improvement.

Internal Audit Planning & Execution

The internal ISO 9001 audit process starts with a plan. We update the audit checklist from previous years and identify what to review and by whom. Each Strategic Leadership Team (SLT) member was then assigned to an area on the production floor to learn how to do the job, identify process improvements and to evaluate safety and customer service issues. For example, our president was assigned to the wash area and our CFO was assigned to mats.

Each SLT member then evaluated the process, documented exceptions, wrote up opportunities for improvement, and logged them into our ISO database. Our management team then reviewed each opportunity and assigned them to the appropriate team, who then identifies root causes and takes corrective actions. Our lead internal auditor then reviews each corrective action to close out the issue.

Risk Assessment

As part of the recertification to ISO 9001:2015 standard, Roscoe is required to conduct a risk assessment of all processes. As such, a risk assessment and analysis was performed over the last several weeks by our SLT. The risk assessment enables Roscoe to identify potential risks to processes and document the procedures in place to mitigate those risks. In addition, the analysis reviews the risk awareness for Roscoe team members.

External Audit & Beyond

Next week, we will have our external ISO 9001:2015 audit performed by NSF, who specializes in ISO 9001 quality management certifications. Non-conformances in past external audits have been rare so we're hopeful that's the case this year, which is why we conduct such an extensive internal audit. However, if there are non-conformances, we will log them, take corrective action and clear them out within 30 days.

Continuous Improvement

Roscoe conducts an internal ISO audit twice a year and the big focus over the last five years has been on continuous improvement. The new ISO 9001 risk assessment has been a useful process for us this year to continuously improve. Every two years, we audit production, field service and our communication systems. The latter two includes route ride-alongs and evaluating all people, processes and software/hardware used to communicate with our customers, from how calls cascade to customer service reps, how we handle email and how we follow up on website submissions.